I've mentioned in the past that I have a particular fondness for trees.
I thought it was time Australia's "gum" trees featured in a post of their own.
There are many different types of gum tree and I am not at all familiar with their individual names.
.
.
Oh, I can recognise an Iron Bark
and a Stringy Bark
and even a Squiggly Gum
by studying their bark but that's about as scientific as I get.
On the whole they are tall, spindly trees, sparsely leaved with a distinctive shape and dark, grey-green long thin leaves and they grow everywhere very abundantly.
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and where they grow is called "the bush".
Sometimes the bush is quite sparse as in the photo above
and sometimes it is thick with trees and undergrowth like this
- tall, mature trees and spindly saplings crowding together.
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Sometimes you see trees growing all alone
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like this HUGE one,
left to stand when the bush was cleared for development because of its particular beauty and size,
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or planted by home owners who enjoy their dappled shade.
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There are a few spectacular ones in my neighbourhood like these
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but despite their beauty they are not good trees to have in your garden.
They drop lots of leaves all over the lawn.
They shed huge quantities of bark.
Constantly!
They are not trees that are designed to stand alone without the protection of other trees
and in storms, when the wind blows strongly they drop huge branches or often the whole tree will snap and they are responsible for the huge damage bills we have after storms
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CACPeNkcFE
* These are my photos. Any others have been taken from the Internet.
** A big thank you my bloggy friends for all your kind words and wishes. What would I do without you ??
I'm linking with Shay's Favourite Things Friday as trees are one of my absolute favourite things EVER !
Cheers.
*
like this HUGE one,
left to stand when the bush was cleared for development because of its particular beauty and size,
or planted by home owners who enjoy their dappled shade.
There are a few spectacular ones in my neighbourhood like these
*
but despite their beauty they are not good trees to have in your garden.
They drop lots of leaves all over the lawn.
They shed huge quantities of bark.
Constantly!
They are not trees that are designed to stand alone without the protection of other trees
and in storms, when the wind blows strongly they drop huge branches or often the whole tree will snap and they are responsible for the huge damage bills we have after storms
Never-the-less we love them.
They smell of eucalyptus.
They're icons of Australia.
and we teach our school children to sing about them !!!
* These are my photos. Any others have been taken from the Internet.
** A big thank you my bloggy friends for all your kind words and wishes. What would I do without you ??
I'm linking with Shay's Favourite Things Friday as trees are one of my absolute favourite things EVER !
Cheers.
Gorgeous post about our Aussie trees. I love the smell of the leaves and when they flower, well that's something else.
ReplyDeleteAnne xx
Great post, but I prefer to look at them from a long way away and not anywhere near my house. I agree with Anne, the flowering gums are absolutely beautiful. I also love the smell of the lemon scented gums.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed seeing these Helsie. We buy them here in England. They are dainty little fellas in a pot, we are tempted by the fact they are evergreen and they have pretty round "penny" leaves. We plant them in our little English gardens and they start to g-r-o-w pretty fast. After just a couple of years they are HUGE and the neighbours are muttering about the debris falling on their cars.
ReplyDeleteNo, definitely best left in their native surroundings! :-D
Nothing like the Aussie bush and our iconic gums.
ReplyDeleteAnother fab peek into your corner of the world. I love learn about your environment from you. Once a teacher, always a teacher. Well, off I go to another jazzercise class. Sure am ready for some outdoor weather or my trip to Florida. FYI-holding steady at 67. These last 10 are a killer, but good news.... totally med-free.
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful trees they are.
ReplyDeleteThey are beautiful trees. I can understand why they shouldn't be planted within falling distance of anything.
ReplyDeleteI recognise these from holidays in other countries. There are lots of them in Portugal and the odd one in gardens in this country too. Tell those kids our amateur musical theatre society needs them!
ReplyDeleteGreat favorite! of course I always wondered about those trees from the kookaburra song .. I don't know if we have any here -- but then I'm not much of a tree person.
ReplyDeleteI only have one eucalyptus on the property and it's as far from the house as I could put it. There are lots of these trees in California, sometimes that's not a good thing. When we have a freeze every few years many of them are killed, then they provide fuel for wildfires. Do you have oaks in Australia?
ReplyDeleteYes Jan but not many in Queensland as I guess it is too hot and wet in Summer for them. I only learnt how to recognise them when we holidayed in the UK and don't think many Queenslanders would know them. They possibly grow in the southern states
ReplyDeleteThey are lovely from a distance but with the drought over recent years lots of falling branches to go with them. Noticed one today on the reserve near my MIL house
ReplyDeleteI love trees too and will stop on the road and turn around and drive back to take the picture of a particularly attractive tree. To respond to your comment on my blog – we ate a good breakfast in the mornings and ate a late lunch at one of those café that show sandwiches in their front windows, as the sandwiches were good. We only went to one restaurant as in the evening we bought fruits or pizza to go to keep within our budget.
ReplyDeleteTheir bark really is amazing. So sad that they fall so easily in a storm.
ReplyDelete